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A review by geneticginger
Iola Leroy: Shadows Uplifted by Frances E.W. Harper
4.0
This was one of the first novels written by a Black woman since it was published in 1892. In this book we follow the story of Iola Leroy who at the beginning of the book is a young, white girl, but comes to find out that her father had hidden the fact that her mother was a slave. Iola is thrown into slavery herself and after slavery we see Iola choose to identify as a Black woman and invest in her community because she believes that's where she can do the most good.
This book has a cast of characters both Black and white and we see different characters wrestle with race and other characters also choose to identify with the Black community when they could have identified as white by looks. There's a lot of discussion around the Christian faith and the hypocrisy of many in that day regarding their negative view of Black people.
Throughout the book, Iola's faith in God is on full display and it's powerful to see her trust even when she's thrown into slavery and also to see her combine her faith with a passion and heart for justice and for the Black race to be considered as equal.
This book has a cast of characters both Black and white and we see different characters wrestle with race and other characters also choose to identify with the Black community when they could have identified as white by looks. There's a lot of discussion around the Christian faith and the hypocrisy of many in that day regarding their negative view of Black people.
Throughout the book, Iola's faith in God is on full display and it's powerful to see her trust even when she's thrown into slavery and also to see her combine her faith with a passion and heart for justice and for the Black race to be considered as equal.